100-yard Pistol Cartridge?

thevest

thevest

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Just picked up a .22 Contender off a fellow CGN'er, and having a tough time deciding what my next barrel will be.

I'd like to satisfy the following criteria:

1. The club I primarily shoot at will only allow pistol ammunition
2. The outdoor range I shoot at is only 100 yards, so that's my max distance
3. The Contender can't handle the higher-pressure stuff like the .460 or .500

So my question is: if I'm looking for a barrel in a pistol caliber that I can shoot accurately (scoped) at 100 yards, what makes the most sense?

.44 MAG?
.357 SIG?
10mm?
.22 WRM?
 
I shoot 10mm out to 100m and beyond. Once I warm up it's pretty fun. If I didn't have big tritium sight on my guns I'd probably do a lot better. A Contender should be able to pull off long shots easily.
 
I wouldn't choose an auto pistol for serious 100 yard shooting even though some of the newer cartridges have enough velocity to produce a flat trajectory. For a centerfire pistol to be reliable, it must be loose enough that 10 MOA is about as good as it can get, and if tightend up to 5 MOA reliability becomes an issue. A good .44 magnum revolver on the other hand will surprise you, provided you can handle the pounding. A .357 magnum in a large frame revolver will match the trajectory and accuracy of the .44, it just won't do as much when it gets there. The .357 might be a better choice if you think that full powered .44s might be a bit much when shooting long strings. I was shooting the CO's 4" M-29 one day with particularly heavy loads. I was shooting from a reclined position with my shooting hand supported on the side of my drawn up leg Elmer Keith style, and my arm between my wrist and my elbow went numb before I made 50 rounds. But I was getting 80% hits on hanging 4" plates at 100 though! Not bad for a light 4" gun.
 
Well, I mentioned that this will be from a G2 Contender, not an auto or a revolver.
(although I'm normally a revolver guy)

I think depending on barrel length and muzzle brake, .44 should be okay recoil-wise. I've fired it in revolvers without much trouble.
 
Like Boomer mentionned a good 44 Mag revolver will give you more than enough at 100 yds with good loads & a good shooting position.

I've been into ``long range handgunning`` for a few years, shooting at 10, 150 & 200 yds. Being a lifetime fan of Elmer Keith, I've carefully developped loads similar to what he used in S&Ws.

My best 4 inch Mdl 29 does 2 inches flat at 100 yds with Keith's loading of 22grs of 2400. I've heard of quite a few 4 inch 29s being very accurate at longer ranges...My 624 does 3 1/2 in at 100 yds which is still very acceptable for me.

I believe that a good 44 Mag revolver will give you more than enough at 100 yds, recoil being another issue...

mk
 
the old cavalry guys used to do 250-400 yards with 45 colt saas.- 7.5 inch barrels, i can do minute of jug at 250 with my old army
 
Not to hijack the thread and more out of curiosity[FONT=&quot][/FONT] as I own a S & W Model 610.

How would a S & W Model 610 in 10 mm Auto with a 6.5" barrel work for this application? Would it give you the desired trajectory / accuracy without some of the heavier recoil associated with the 44 Magnum?

Thanks for your time.

Regards,

Chizzy
 
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A light bullet being pushed as fast as possible will make 100m+ fun with a pistol; not so fun when you are lobbing them (bullets) artillery style.

I'd do the .357Mag or .44Mag with the lightest bullets available (should be easy enough).
10mm Auto would be good too if there were plenty of 135gr bullets available here in Canada (but there isn't).

I don't know much about the .22wrm; sounds capable :)
 
G37 said:
A light bullet being pushed as fast as possible will make 100m+ fun with a pistol; not so fun when you are lobbing them (bullets) artillery style.

I'd do the .357Mag or .44Mag with the lightest bullets available (should be easy enough).
10mm Auto would be good too if there were plenty of 135gr bullets available here in Canada (but there isn't).

I don't know much about the .22wrm; sounds capable :)
Click to expand...

If there is any wind the heavier bullets reduce wind drift significantly. My Redhawk with light(ish) loads has the same trajectory as a .22LR, closer to the very high velocity .22LR rounds like Stingers with full loads. That is with a 245gr. SWC up front.

OP, if you know the ranges, a flat trajectory is of very little use and the better wind resistance of the heavier bullets wins out. My Hornady manual shows the .44Mag getting a 240gr. jacketed bullet up to 1750-1800fps out of a 14" Contender. In these big bores, lead bullets often outperform jacketed, so that is something to look at as well. I imagine recoil with that load would be pretty stout.

Mark
 
versatility, availability and cost. I would choose .357. If you have a handgun already, go with a rifle in same calibre.
 
Just to be contrarian I'll buck the general consensis and say either .32-20 (actually .30-20 as you can get them so marked for the Contender, and with a .308 bor to make use of the plethora of .308" bullets outthere). Easy and cheap to load for and with the Contender you can get away with neck-sizing only and as a result your brass will last forever...
 
Since you're a revolver guy already why not just use a caliber that you've already got? A .357Mag with the right bullet will remain flat enough for 100 meters to avoid the "lobbing 'em in" feel.

I've shot .38Spl from a 6 inch barrel at steel out at 50 yards. Thinking there would be some drop I aimed for the top edge. Most hit but a few actually hit the berm after passing over the plate. So at least for 50 there isn't that much drop even for a lowly .38Spl. Mid point aiming showed that the bullets were hitting around 6'ish inches lower than POA. Mind you at that point it's hard to say since the "group" was the size of the plate. It's just that there appeared to be more of them hitting at around that point than above or lower.

A .30-20 option sounds interesting. But having seen some .32-20 brass just this past weekend I'd say that there's more room for powder in a .357 Mag case.

Ya know what might be fun to play with if you're reloading would be a .308 to .357 sabot round so you could shoot the finer aspect coefficient rifle boat tail bullets out of .357Mag cases. That sounds like the sort of thing that would be right up a Contender owner's alley. Granted it would mean having to find someone that could make the sabots for you but if you can locate a machinist in your area that also shoots this might be able to get done for not too much cost. It's not like you'd be shooting thousands of them a year anyway.
 
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